


our hearts intertwined

by WhyDontWeBegin



Series: As I Fall [6]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Au Ra Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Estinien is dumb, Estinien “I fuck away my problems” Wyrmblood, F/M, Female Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), How Do I Tag, Implied Sexual Content, Language, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mild Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multi, no beta we just die
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-07
Updated: 2020-01-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22161655
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyDontWeBegin/pseuds/WhyDontWeBegin
Summary: There are some things, Aymeric knows, that being soulmates has no effect on. Others, however, are quite contrary.
Relationships: Aymeric de Borel/Estinien Wyrmblood, Aymeric de Borel/Warrior of Light, Aymeric de Borel/Warrior of Light/Estinien Wyrmblood, Warrior of Light/Estinien Wyrmblood
Series: As I Fall [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1262435
Kudos: 24





	our hearts intertwined

**Author's Note:**

> this has been in the works for... a while now.... kinda fought me a lot. biiiig thanks to [shoutz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shoutz) for helping me out with Aymeric's dialogue! I always fear I won't do him justice aha, im so glad I have nice friends good at working with him  
> unedited, kinda vague in timeline so im just gonna say its a Heavensward thing before the whole "hey lets go wander around Dravania with Iceheart" thing I guess

Aymeric knew the _moment_ something was wrong with Estinien. He felt Nadia’s panic, and it was nothing for a moment. (It was so strange to him, now, for them to go quiet like that. It’d been a long time since Estinien shut down in such a way, and that fact sent a jolt of fear through him.) He stood, and Aymeric forced himself not to run. He knew where they’d go.

(And yet, the fact that his soulmates had shut down so, that he couldn’t feel their emotions at the edge of his awareness, made him more unsettled than he wanted to admit. They hadn’t been closed off from him like this since before he met Estinien that day, all those years ago.)

—

Nadia darted over, dropping to her knees in the snow next to Estinien, fumbling for a moment, two, before prying off his helmet and throwing it to the side, cupping his cheeks in her hands. “Estinien? Estinien, look at me,” she pleaded. His eyes were on her, yes, but they didn’t _see_ her. But she knew. She knew, even though he’d all but shut down, what it was. (Or perhaps it was merely that she did this, too, and she knew from experience.) “Estinien, please, please…” Pure white snow, crimson stain slowly spreading-

“No, no, no, no no no no- nononono, Estinien, Estinien, stay with me. Please, please stay with me, I can’t loose you, not now, not like this,” Nadia begged, voice breaking. She felt her throat tighten with emotion, tears burning at her eyes. Felt her magic flare as pressed her forehead to his, saw the rage and the fear and the pain flitting across his expression and she _hated_. An age-old hate washed over her, setting free the part of her that still seethed, still cried out for vengeance. It didn’t matter that she’d killed the thrice-damned wyvern that’d set upon them from nowhere. (She could’ve taken that hit, he didn’t have to get in the way, he didn’t have to protect her all the time-) Estinien was _hurting_ and she couldn’t _do anything_ -

“Nadia?”

“Estinien,” she whispered, and _relief_ hit her. She hadn’t realized she’d been struggling to breathe until he spoke, because then she took in a large, shuddering breath. She wanted to hug him, but his damned armor… (Nadia could feel Aymeric’s worry and fear at the edge of her mind, but it was washed out, dulled by her intense focus on the man before her.)

His jaw clenched and he closed his eyes against the emotions, the memories swarming his mind. Estinien didn’t have to say a word. Nadia already knew. There was one place for them to go, now.

_Home._

—

Aymeric was there. He paled when he saw how Estinien’s armor was broken, noticed the dried coat of blood around that area, but didn’t say a word as he helped Estinien out of it. (Nadia may have healed his wound, yes, but it still hurt. T’was effective, but no painkiller.)

Once his armor was gone, leaving him only in the soft shirt and trousers he wore under, there was a pregnant pause. Aymeric opened his mouth to speak, only to have his lips claimed in a desperate kiss. He was surprised at first, but Estinien knew damn well how to kiss him senseless. And that’s what he did, because he damn well didn’t want to talk about his feelings.

When they parted, Aymeric took a deep breath, attempting to gather his scattered thoughts and derail this before it got any further. But Nadia came up behind him, tugged him down and close, pressing her lips to his in a kiss far gentler than Estinien’s.

“Indulge him.”

Well. He could hardly deny _both_ of them. (Besides, Nadia still knew Estinien so much better. How could he compare to the bond they shared? It was deeper than just the string or the shared emotions, they had grown up together. They were the sole survivors of Ferndale. They had lived that hell together, Estinien had stayed by her side in the second hell that followed for her. Aymeric could never hope to compare.)

“Stop it,” Estinien growled, wrestling Aymeric back, a scowl on his face.

“Stop- stop what?”

“Doubting yourself,” he half-hissed. It didn’t take a bond between them to make it plain that Estinien was frustrated with it. He felt Nadia reach around him to start to remove his armor, made to help but Estinien didn’t let him, moving his hands aside and kissing him again and it was _too much_ for him to keep up with. He let himself be consumed by the raging storm that was Estinien, let the controlled chaos that was Nadia ground him.

A part of him distantly recognized the _irony_ there before he completely gave in.

—

“Speech finds you easier than it once did,” Aymeric said. His voice didn’t particularly startle her, though it _was_ unexpected. Until that moment, all she could hear was the crackling of the fire she watched. “It would seem that much and more has transpired without us.”

She was silent for a moment. Two. “You didn’t miss out by choice,” she finally murmured. Aymeric didn’t say anything, but she knew he was frowning. Knew he was worried. (He always seemed to be worried about her or Estinien, when Nadia really thought about it.) “You needn’t feel like you failed me, Aymeric. If anyone failed, t’was I myself...”

“Nadia,” he began, after a moment. He rounded the couch and sat next to her, using one hand to guide her to look at him. “You did not fail us. I am, perhaps, disappointed you didn’t seek us out ere you left, but... you have _never_ failed us.”

Nadia searched his expression. Aymeric knew she didn’t believe what he said, but- Halone as his witness, he would do everything in his power to convince her otherwise.

—

Estinien felt small hands running over his back. Her thumbs dug lightly into his neck, working at the muscles there. He groaned into the pillow, all but melting under Nadia’s expert touch. She knew him in and out, and knew exactly where to press to turn him into putty in her hands. She leaned down over him, pressed a chaste kiss to his shoulder. “Estinien.”

He shoved his face into the pillow with a grunt. Nope. No talking, he was tired and she was making it difficult. Fuck that. Nadia giggled next to his ear before letting herself fall onto his back, eliciting an “omf” from the Elezen. He could feel the fabric of her top, now, but her arms were bare and her scales a stark contrast compared to softer skin. (He always wondered how she managed that, but never felt inclined to ask. For all he knew, it could’ve just been an Au Ra thing.)

“Estiniiieeeeen,” she whined, and he could _hear_ her pouting. Estinien grunted questioningly. She huffed. “Talk to me.”

“No.”

“But you just did?”

“Oh, fuck off...”

She snickered, ever impervious to his barbs, and slipped her left hand under the pillow to rest atop his own. The action had his heart skipping a beat even as he turned his hand over to hold hers, so much smaller and more delicate compared to his own. “He’s worried.”

“Nothin’ new,” Estinien snorted. “I doubt he knows how to _stop_ worrying, the idiot.”

“He keeps worrying and it’s making _me_ worry...”

Estinien turned his head to look at her from the corner of one eye. Her chin was on his shoulder, eyes closed in thought. Her hair was down, loose, tumbling over her shoulders like a wave of midnight. Hells. Her right eye cracked open and he briefly traced the ring of light purple around the ice blue of her eye before meeting her gaze. “Estinien, you have to talk about these things,” Nadia finally murmured after a moment longer. “It’s not going to go away if you ignore it.”

He looked away. “... I know.”

“Please? For Aymeric?”

When Estinien didn’t respond, Nadia rolled off of him, and he rolled into his side to welcome her into his arms. “I know it’s hard, but...”

Estinien didn’t reply, but she didn’t need words to know his answer.

—

When Aymeric returned, he found his soulmates, his beloved, foolish Azure Dragoons curled together. It melted his heart to see them like this. They worked so well together, stark opposites in so many ways, yet so similar in so many others. But they understood each other on a level he never would- not because they were soulmates, but because they had lived the same events, grown up together- a connection that went beyond some red string and shared emotions.

He liked to believe he had a similar connection with at least one, if not both of them. Aymeric sat down on Estinien’s side of the bed and leaned over to brush a hair from Nadia’s face. She stirred a fraction, for just a moment before settling back down and he smiled. He really did love them, the rest of Ishgard be damned. Perhaps their triad was unorthodox, perhaps it was frowned upon for him to be with another man, never mind an Au Ra, but he didn’t care. Estinien and Nadia were his to have and to hold, they’d given him that, and no one could change it.

He didn’t want them to.

(When Estinien woke up, briefly, to find himself sandwiched between the Au Ra in his arms and the other Elezen behind him, he smiled. He smiled, and before long fell back into a blissful, dreamless sleep.)


End file.
